New Year Reflections
by Seillean
Summary: Just a little one-shot of pre-Doccubus lovin'. As this year draws to a close I just wanted to put this out there. Totally unrelated to my other stories. Set between the defeat of the Garuda and events at Hecuba, Bo and Lauren contemplate where they've been and where the future will take them.


**Hi guys!**

 **Just a little one-shot that started rattling around the old brainbox when I came off nightshift this morning. It's completely unrelated to my other stories and set somewhere between the death of the Garuda and the events at Hecuba. I'm not a big one for the holiday season, especially not New Year and I was just thinking about all the different things a new year can mean to different people.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer; I own nothing here; Bo, Lauren and all the other wonderful characters belong to the lovely people at Prodigy. If I did, we would have had much less icky Dyson times and more Doccubus lovin'!**

 **New Year's Eve**

Lauren sank further into the ample cushions of her plush white sofa, mulling over a cut-crystal glass of Malt that sparkled under the single remaining living room lamp as she toyed with it delicately between long, graceful fingers in quiet contemplation. Once more, the world had been saved and she knew fine that the Dàl Riata would be in full swing but just for once, she wasn't in the mood to be amongst a heaving throng of people.

She had never really been one for New Year as a holiday. Yes, as a child, there was the thrill of getting to stay up late with the grown-ups- oh, she had felt like such a sophisticated young lady! Then as she grew up it became just another excuse to party and get hammered with her roommates during her more wild and carefree college days. Out in the field when she was working far from home, surrounded by war and desolation it became a time to either remember all that she had left behind or was just entirely forgotten about altogether. Now, as she got older it was a time for reflection and sometimes if she wasn't careful, she would find herself slipping into a deep maudlin pit of memories, often opting to disappear up the wooden hill to bed before Midnight even chimed.

The Star Trek: Generations DVD she had flicked on earlier filtered through her ears from somewhere in the distance. It was more just a comforting background noise as she remained focused on the viscous amber liquid swirling about the intricately etched tumbler. The film had just got to the bit where Captain Kirk was telling Picard not to ever let Starfleet take him out of his command chair where he belonged and the blonde smirked wistfully to herself as she reflected on the variety of bumpy diversions her own life path had taken.

Once upon a time she had had a successful career on the front lines of medicine. Her life had been an action-packed one; first in Afghanistan where she had risked her life on a daily basis, frantically thinking on her feet with often the most primitive of equipment in the fight to save people who had given their all for their country, all the while with the threat of being bombed out or shot at looming over their canvas-tented heads as sand and flies whipped about in gritty air that stank of blood and effluence. It was tough but in a very masochistic way, it was perhaps her subconscious' way of trying to repair some of the damage done in her Karen Beattie days.

Then later in the Congo as an aid worker in some of the world's remotest outposts. The very place where her very existence had taken the most unexpected turn imaginable/ Meeting the Fae ha opened up new worlds to her and turned everything she had thought and believed directly on its head. Of course, it had also shackled her very body and spirit into indentured slavery.

However, now that Hale had taken over as the new acting Ash, her leash had become much slacker, its grip not so tight about her neck. It would be so easy to run away…but there was Bo. And Bo complicated _everything._

Sometimes she wished she had her very own Nexus just like Guinan's in the film still flickering across the TV screen. _Hmph,_ she thought to herself wryly, _nobody could rock those crazy outfits quite like Whoopi Goldberg though!_

She closed her eyes for a moment and allowed the oversized pillows to surround and support her, cutting off the outside world while she imagined what her Nexus would look like. Whether she would return to a world where she was not seen as simply a useful tool that did as ordered, pre-judged as merely a specimen of her inferior species. A place where she was free to have her own thoughts and counted as an equal again. A world where people looked at her the way that only Bo did. _Her_ Bo.

 _No!_ She mentally smacked herself. _Bo would never be hers again…if she ever had been to begin with. Not now. His Royal Ash-hole-ness had already seen to it that she had well and truly blown any chance she may have had of finding that kind of happiness for herself. But how the lonely dead of night made her wish…_

She huffed and gave herself a shake, blinking herself alert once more. After all, wishing for anything too hard in the Fae world could have surprising and often potentially deadly consequences. One only had to look at Kenzi and her supposed folk stories!

She sipped the rest of her drink in her silence, concentrating on enjoying the burn the whisky trailed all the way down her throat to the pit of her belly where it sent warm tendrils tingling throughout her body, moaning softly at the sheer visceral pleasure.

"Am I interrupting?" came an amused voice from the doorway. Lauren didn't need to glance. Even if she hadn't instantly recognised the silken tones of Bo's smooth voice, only one person would ever have the sheer audacity to just waltz into her apartment without so much as polite knock. Not that she ever minded. In fact, she loved the fact that Bo felt so at ease in her home.

The clickety-clack of Bo's stiletto-heeled boots echoed through the clean lines of the Doctor's immaculate loft-style space as the Succubus strode confidently over to join her on the sofa. Lauren gave a small, rueful chuckle;

"Just thinking." She said simply. On the edge of her peripheral vision she caught Bo rolling her eyes.

"So, tell me something new!" she replied as she sank down easily next to the blonde, taking the woman's unoccupied hand within her own where it lay casually upon her thigh. "Why aren't you at the party? Your friends are wondering where you are…" she said, hesitating slightly, "I was…wondering where you were."

Lauren continued to stare straight ahead for a moment, working out her reply carefully;

"I thought I wanted to be alone," she began, finally bringing her gaze to meet Bo's, "but the truth is, the longer I sit here thinking, the lonelier I feel. I didn't really want to be part of a crowd tonight but…I suppose I just needed the right kind of company." She said, lowering her face bashfully. Bo breathed deeply, willing herself not to get her hopes up too far and reached across the short distance to tuck a stray strand of spun gold behind Lauren's ear, leaving her hand pressed against the other woman's cheek.

"Bo…I know we need to talk. I never got around to explaining,"

"Shh," interrupted Bo, leaving Lauren's hand to rest against the blonde's lips, gently silencing her.

It was true. The relationship between the two women had been growing steadily warmer throughout the whole Garuda episode that when things had finally calmed down again, both women had been reluctant to open old wounds.

"I guess it's just that things have been so good between us lately that, I didn't really wanna ruin it. But…I know Lauren."

Lauren raised her shining golden orbs to match Bo's melted chocolate ones, the crinkling of her eyes seeming to make them twinkle in the soft glow.

"Know what?" She asked with just a tint of nervousness. Bo smiled reassuringly;

"When we all mingled our blood so I could defeat the Garuda I could feel everyone's thoughts, their feelings and yours were louder and clearer to me than anyone else's. Lauren; you are so good. I need you in my life and I know I need to be in yours. You bring me the light when the world seems at its darkest. I love…that about you" she trailed off quietly.

It took the blonde a moment for her brain to catch up to what her ears were hearing.

"Really?" she asked tentatively, daring to raise her hand and clasp to Bo's where it had remained cupping her own cheek, which she now pressed even tighter, revelling the gentle warmth of the other woman's skin.

"Really. You're stuck with me, Doctor Lewis."

"I, uh," Lauren began, feeling a little choked up by her own rising emotions, "I promise you Bo Dennis, that no matter what, I will never walk away from you. I am never letting you go again. You're stuck with me too." In that moment, she recognised that she had made a solemn vow, at least within her own mind. Whatever else happened in their future, she was Bo's for life, however long or short a time that would turn out to be and she could never belong to anyone else.

Bo opened her mouth to say something else but looked away in consternation before she had the chance. A far-off bell somewhere tolled Midnight and the Succubus grinned;

"We made it." She whispered in wonderment before turning back to the blonde. "It's a new year. A new start…for both of us." But before she could reply the Succubus was on her feet and pulling a reluctant Lauren towards the door. "C'mon Doc," she said, "We saved the world, we deserve a party and _you_ are gonna have fun with your faemily whether you like it or not!" but the blonde tugged on her fingers, pausing to stare quizzically at the brunette;

"No regrets?"

"No regrets, I promise."

 **Just a short piece. If I don't update beforehand, I wish you all a Happy New Year when it comes folks and all the very best for 2017!**


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